Wednesday, February 26, 2003
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Wednesday, February 26, 2003 |
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Nativity Episcopal plans three services for Ash Wednesday
The Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Fayetteville will offer three services for Ash Wednesday, March 5. All will include the imposition of ashes in addition to Holy Eucharist. The services are open and the public is invited to attend. The 7 a.m. service will include Gregorian chant and incense; also, to accommodate those on the way to work, it will last less than 30 minutes or less. The 5:30 p.m. Children and Family service is designed to be "kid-friendly." The 7:30 p.m. service will include music by the adult choir of Nativity. Explaining the service, the Rev. Bob Hudak, rector of Nativity said that Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent, the forty days preceding Easter. "As early as the eighth century, Christians on this day received a cross of ashes on the forehead with the words: 'Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.' This mark echoes the sign of the cross made at Baptism, which marks each as 'sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ's own forever.'" The ashes are made by burning the palms saved from the previous year's Palm Sunday and are a "biblical symbol of mourning and penance." "Both are an appropriate part of the penitential season of Lent, which also includes fasting and prayer. The keeping of Lent is largely a private matter. However," Hudak added, quoting from The Book of Common Prayer, "the cross of ashes received on Ash Wednesday is an outward and visible sign of the inward intention to observe 'a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word.'" The Episcopal Church of the Nativity is located at 130 Antioch Road in Fayetteville. It is one of 93 parishes in the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta and a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion. For more information on the parish, call (770) 460-6390. Those interested also may visit the church's web site at http://www.fayettenativity.com/. |
